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Friday, November 28, 2014

House Cleansing Ritual 2014

Perhaps you're here because you're getting ready to move or because you need to refresh your space. Maybe you're looking for tips on clearing negativity or just want to see how a house cleansing ritual can go. You're in the right place!

But before we moved in, I wanted to ensure we would experience nothing like we did at the apartment. One of the ways to do this is through a house cleansing ritual.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

The following is a list of items you will need to perform my house cleansing ritual. You are welcome to customize it to your needs! The list does not include any items for spell work performed once the circle was opened. Because I wrote about those activities separately to avoid a terribly long entry, you can find those items in the appropriate links below.

Sage bundles to cleanse your attendants and tools.

Matches

Fire-proof collection bowl for matches

Fire safety item of choice in case of accidents.

A brand-new handmade besom or broom that means something to you.

Protective item or items of choice

I used 2 lbs of tumbled quartz - enough to put two pieces in each window and door at either side.

Four pennies to place on each corner of the house.

Protective ashes created by burning specific herbs and sigils on paper.

An iron item to hang near the entry door, along with nails and a hammer to hang it.

Items of your choice to create an elemental altar in each appropriate corner of the house.

I used a candle of each color (yellow for air, red for fire, etc), as well as candle holders for those candles.

Small offering bowls containing element-appropriate items for each corner (sea shells and water for water, a candle and ashes for fire, etc).

Candle snuffers for each corner.

A compass if you need to determine where the corners are.

Sage bundles for East/Air.

Lantern with black candle for South/Fire.

Large bowl of purified water for West/Water.

Bowl of salt for North/Earth.

Any items needed for raising power.

We brought in a phone connected to music.

I realize that, at this point, the item list seems overwhelming. I assure you that all of this, along with all the items I needed for each of my four ritual activities, fit into one medium-sized box. Well, sans broom of course. That one medium sized box was the simplest thing I carried in the entire move.

You can actually see that exact box in the background of this photo.

STEP ONEPurifying Your Tools and Attendants

Before any single thing enters your home, it should be cleansed. My activity of choice for this task was smoke cleansing with sage. Smoke cleansing, or recanning, is a simple yet effective way of removing negative energy. In fact, many people simply smoke cleanse their home as their full cleansing ritual! You are by all means welcome to do that. For me, I needed to go much, much further.

STEP TWOSweep Out the Negativity

Folklore tells us that the broom is the physical and spiritual cleansing tool of the home. Because of this, a broom becomes attached to its living space very quickly. It holds and removes all the dirt of your home with it. That's why you should never take a broom used to cleanse one living space to another living space; you are effectively passing the energy of one house to another.

This is why I bought a new besom for our new house! I wish I had had the time or skill to make one. However, our local Renaissance Festival offers a variety of craft shops and one such shop just happens to be a pagan besom shop! I rely on them for all of my besom needs.

The first thing that enters your home should be your new besom followed by you, the owner. This attaches your broom to the house and clearly defines that you are entering with the intent to live there.

Begin your house cleansing ritual by physically sweeping the entire house. I even swept the carpet and basement. Sweep all physical and spiritual dirt our the doors.

STEP THREEWard Against Negativity Reentering

As I swept the negativity from the house, designated attendants began warding against that negativity.

One person placed quartz on either side of every single window and door, even the garage door. The only door she did not cover was the front door, as we needed a place for negativity to exit.

Two other people spread protective ashes and pennies along the outside of the house in a clockwise motion. Again, the skipped the front door, saving it for after the ritual so that the negativity had an exit.

STEP FOURRaising Energy by Opening the Circle

The first power raising activity of the night, and the primary meat of the ritual, was opening a cleansing circle. In many ways, this was your typical circle casting: We set up altars to each quarter as well as a main altar in a centralized location facing east. We then called upon the directions in a deosil (or clockwise) order. But that's where the similarities end.

One of the differences between this circle and standard circle castings I've done in the past is that the circle encompassed the entire home. The altars were placed against the outer-most walls on the main floor facing their appropriate directions.

This meant that each altar was in a different room of our home. It also meant that you could travel anywhere within the house and still be within the confines of the circle.

The second, and perhaps biggest, difference is that we used each element as a way of cleansing the house as well. For this, I chose cleansing items that corresponded with each direction: sage for East/Air, fire in the form of a candle in a lantern for South/Fire, purified water for West/Water and salt for North/Earth. The attendant corresponding to each element would cleanse the entire house with their selected cleansing item, then return to the appropriate altar to light the candle and call upon the element.

This means that one attendant saged the entire house before returning to the east-most altar to call upon air. Another attendant used a candle to light every corner of the home before calling upon fire and so on and so forth.

For what each attendant stated when they lit the candle and called upon each element, see below.

EAST"We call upon the element of air,

Whose pure winds sweep this place of its negativity."

All: "We welcome the watchtower of the east."

SOUTH"We call upon the element of fire,

Whose burning flame both burns away the bad and illuminates the good."

Whose stable soil turns that which has passed into that which grows again."

All: "We welcome the watchtower of the north."

RETURN TO CENTER

"And so our circle is cast.

With sacred space surrounding us, we turn to the center, welcoming the divine.

As above, so below.

The powers spin and our magick holds."

All: "As above, so below. The powers spin and our magick holds.

We effectively cleansed, protected and raised power all at the same time. But the activities didn't end once the circle was raised. Within the circle, I repeated the same three-step process through a variety of spells in order to ensure the home was indeed ready for us.

As a banishing spell, it can be incredibly tedious for someone with a 101-base (or less) knowledge of spell work. Because the ritual was interfaith and thus not everyone was familiar with spell work, I simply asked attendants to lend me their energy as I performed the spell.

For this spell, I created a ring of protective herbs around a small plate. Filling the plate with a little bit of purified water, I then light a match and placed a cup over it. Doing this created a vacuum that forced the cup to absorb the water. As the match went out, it filled the cup with smoke.

The water absorbed the negative energy. As it did so, it produced a positive, happy smoke that I released when I removed the dish. I poured the remaining water into a small black bowl and put it to the side. I would later take the bowl of leftover water back to our old apartment and threw the water into the lake there.

To create the sachet, I used a variety of herbs and gemstones that specifically harnessed a protective energy. I filled a small black back with those items. Once the sachet was tied shut, I asked everyone to join hands and lend me their energy as I charged it with protective intent. I then hung it on a star hanger that would eventually go on my kitchen altar.

Each rune on the chain represents something we wished for in our new home, such as financial prosperity or health stability. Once again, I asked attendants to join hands and lend me their energy as I charged the chain. I then handed it to my husband who hung it with care between our living room and our kitchen.

STEP SEVENRaising Energy

The third and final part of the inner activities of the circle was raising power. To do this, I asked my attendants to each bring something small for the house - an item that represented a concept they wanted to give to the house, such as protection or prosperity. Because the circle was interfaith, I encouraged them to bring items of their own faith to the house. We had quite a variety of trinkets!

During the ritual, I explained the concept of charging an item to the circle. I then had each member charge their item with their intent and pass it around the circle in a clockwise motion to me. I placed each item inside our blessing bowl, which would stay within the living room.

While charging an item is certainly raising energy, we enforced it even more by singing an energetic and enjoyable song in unison as we did so. Not only was it a ton of fun, but everyone was smiling at the end!

STEP EIGHTClosing the Circle

Once all activities had come to an end, it was time to close the circle. Closing the circle was fairly routine. We released each element and bid them farewell. For words each attendant spoke when the elements were released, see below:

NORTH"We release the element of earth,

And ask that its bountiful soil continue to protect this house as it becomes a home."

All: "Hail and farewell to the watchtower of the north."

WEST"We release the element of water,

And ask the water that flows through this house to wash away any future potential negativity."

All: "Hail and farewell to the watchtower of the west."

SOUTH"We release the element of fire,

And ask that the flame brightens this home with beauty, prosperity and happiness."

All: "Hail and farewell to the watchtower of the south."

EAST"We release the element of air,

And ask that the winds remain steadfast and true about and within this home."

All: "Hail and farewell to the watchtower of the east."

RETURN TO CENTER"And so our circle is open but unbroken.

We now turn to the center one last time.

Merry meet, and merry party, and merry meet again!"

All release hands upward.

"Blessed be!"

However, even though the ritual was over, there were still a few more things that needed to be done.

STEP NINEFinalize ProtectionFINAL STEP!

Back on step three, remember how we did not place any quartz or protective ashes around the front door to allow an exit for negativity? Now is the time to complete that step by placing two pieces of quartz on either side of the front door and spreading the protective ashes across the step.

In addition, I warded the front door by hanging my broom on the wall next to it, as well as a decorative iron item above it. Iron is known for its spiritually protective properties and is a great way to keep unwanted visitors away from your home.

And that concludes the fourth and final installation of my House Cleansing Ritual series! Enjoy your new home. We're definitely enjoying ours!

4 comments:

A very great post with details and tips I'm probably be using this year as I'm going to buy (hopefully) a house in 2015.I also though about your blog this week, as I stumble on passionplanner.com. They are offering a free 2015 planner in a pdf form (or you can buy it). The way it's made I though you will like it (it's all about reaching your goals :) ).

Thank you for the in depth guide, it is very much appreciated. I moved into my home November 2015 and it was good for a while. Recently a negative presence has shown itself and I need to cleanse the space again.

I was going to burn salt, but I feel as if that would be a bit too drastic at this time so I am going to try your method first and see what happens. If you have any tips on how to encourage negative entities to vacate, they would be much appreciated!

I'm Marietta, a nontheistic witch mixing modernity with traditional practices. My blog focuses on my journey with my familiars and connected spirits, diving deeper into my work with the Man in Black and my psychopomp guide D. Here, I present my rituals, altars and spells as needed while exploring witchcraft theory and history.